District heating with complexity: Anticipating unintended consequences in the transition towards a climate-neutral city in the Netherlands

Published: 22 January 2024| Version 4 | DOI: 10.17632/f8nwdjvhpf.4
Contributor:
Cem Gürsan

Description

This is an accompanying data folder for the paper entitled " District heating with complexity: Anticipating unintended consequences in the transition towards a climate-neutral city in the Netherlands". This data folder includes the data collection and analysis methods that we have used in our research. Urban heating systems operate in densely populated areas, which gives rise to all kinds of socio-technical interdependencies. Such interdependencies influence pathways towards reaching carbon-neutrality goals, and result in policy resistance. Understanding these influences supports researchers and decision-makers to recognize systemic patterns that affect changes in urban energy systems, for example in terms of policy resistance, bottlenecks and delays during urban transitions. This research investigates the lessons learned from a project conducted in Rotterdam: a high-density city in the Netherlands which is in a unique situation as it is already switching from natural gas to district heating. We use qualitative system dynamics models to recognize indirect consequences from policy interdependencies during Rotterdam’s substitution of natural gas with district heating and understand the relation between more technologically oriented and policy-oriented policies. We use participative modeling techniques to support transition governance in cities. Our findings suggest that, on the one hand, the national and urban strategies in the Netherlands can activate mechanisms that can support cities with district heating systems such as Rotterdam. On the other hand, the same strategies could also lead to a potential rivalry between energy efficiency and energy security policies, which are both crucial goals towards carbon-neutral cities. Participative modelling provides policy makers with an analytical tool to detect systemic dependencies via joint qualitative scenario building, which in turn can be used to prevent competition among different energy policy objectives which may prolong the use of carbon-heavy systems and displace investments from energy efficiency and renewable heating systems.

Files

Steps to reproduce

This is an accompanying data folder for the paper entitled " Participative modelling to identify interdependencies in the transition from natural gas to district heating in Rotterdam, the Netherlands". This data folder includes the data collection and analysis methods that we have used in our research.

Institutions

Radboud Universiteit Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen

Categories

Energy Sustainability, Systems Dynamics, Socio-Technical System, Urban Analysis

Funding

Topconsortium voor Kennis en Innovatie

NGI-18002-2019-DT

Licence